Free Ebook on GNU Debian LinuxComputer Programming : Debian Desktop Survival Guide.pdf

Preface

Welcome to the world of GNU/Linux, liberating the computing desktop from the shackles of proprietary interests.

The aim of this book is to get you up to speed with GNU/Linux and to deliver a fun and productive environment. It guides you through the many different regions of a GNU/Linux system with a focus on getting your desktop environment to do what you want it to do. It is comprehensive with basic support for the user who installs and maintains the system themselves (whether in the home, office, club, or school). It provides insights and stepby- step procedures that deal with specific tasks in setting your system up and maintaining it. The book covers many of the core features of a GNU/Linux system and you will gain the knowledge to enjoy and use one of the most comprehensive and useful developments in the history of computing.

The details in this book are presented in the context of Debian GNU/Linux-the most open of the GNU/Linux distributions and the distribution setting the standards for free software and collaborative developments. In general the details translate directly to RedHat and other standard distributions of GNU/Linux. A growing number of the applications (including StarOffice, AbiWord, The Gimp, Dia and gPhoto, to name just a few) are cross-platform developments and run also under MS-Windows. The chapters that cover these applications in this book will also generally apply to those versions............more

The structure of this on-line version of the book is basically alphabetical. Each individual chapter aims to be a standalone reference. The book includes an overview of GNU/Linux and its history, a guide to installing GNU/Linux, introductions to the suite of GNU/Linux desktop productivity tools, and recipes for tuning specific parts of a GNU/Linux system.

The book begins with an introduction to the world of GNU/Linux, Free Software, and the Open Source Software movement. Free software equals, and often surpasses, the commercial offerings for the same or equivalent functionality. We present historical and philosophical perspectives. Chapter 3 briefly reviews GNU/Linux, the various distributions, the licensing issues, and the freedom that GNU/Linux delivers.

There are many ways of obtaining GNU/Linux and we only cover the most common approaches. Chapter 4 provides an overview of installing Debian with detailed examples for a number of hardware platforms. Chapter 5 is a brief introduction to some of the essential GNU/Linux utilities that you are likely to come across soon. The Debian packaging system used to manage (and take all of the hard work out of maintaining) packages is described in Chapter 3.4. Setting up the X Window System is covered in Chapter 93. By this stage you will have a system ready to take full advantage of. On a more technical level Chapter 50 shows how simple it is to compile your own kernel to suit your hardware requirements.

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